Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow

Picture: Moderna Museet

“Polka dots are fabulous.”

Yayoi Kusama, 88, born in Nagano Prefecture. Known for her iconic artwork of dots, nets, pumpkins and infinity rooms. Named one of the Top 10 living artists of 2015.

An ongoing event at the National Gallery Singapore on 09 June to 03 September 2017, featuring over 120 works across media, Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow offers an unprecedented opportunity to explore an extraordinary artistic journey across seven decades. Beginning with paintings from the 1950s, the exhibition traces the development of her key motifs and exploration of colour, form and space. Along the way it highlights her forays into sculpture, collage, performance and video, before culminating in a series of spectacular installations of large-scale paintings that transforms the gallery.

There are two galleries hosting this event. Gallery A and B. In gallery A, there are 3 artwork featurette depicting Kusama’s work. The first showcase is called NO.A, dated at 1959, Kusama’s infinity Nets painting caused a sensation in New York when first exhibited in 1959. Composed of small tight loops painted repeatedly over a plain ground. These works began as monochromes but later included shifts in form, technique and use of colour.

Dots. Dots. And more polka dots! | Photo: Rice Gallery

The second showcase is called The Spirits of the Pumpkins descended into the Heavens, dated 2017. The humble pumpkin is one of Kusama’s most beloved motifs. The origin of her distinctive yellow and black colour scheme, these whimsical, bulbous forms appear regularly in her paintings, print, sculptures and installations. This work creates the illusion of a vast expanse of pumpkins stretching as far as the eye can see. Third showcase is called Infinity Mirrored Room – Gleaming lights of the souls, dated 2008. First created in 1965, Kusama’s infinity mirror room transform the repetition of her net and dot paintings into an immersive sensory experience. Ranging in format from small peep boxes to room-scale installations. These kaleidoscopic environments invite contemplation in an infinity repeating, expanded space.

“The artwork is great and it is very nice. Unconventional people create the best artwork. Out of the norm and out of the box. This isn’t normal thinking,” said Jeaney, a student from SIM who was visiting the gallery. This place is very pretty and extra ordinary and would definitely recommend anyone and everyone who appreciates artwork to visit, she said. Something out of the city life and something apart from working on your phone. It is time to appreciate artwork.

Tickets are going for $15 for Singaporeans and $25 for Non-Singaporeans and free for children 6 years and under, local and locally-based students and teachers, persons with disabilities and one caregiver.